Work on the Mekong dam in northern Laos has gone beyond preliminary preparations, an environmental group says.
Construction and resettlement activities at the dam site have been “significant” and contradict claims by Lao officials and the dam developer that only preliminary work has been done on the project, the environmental group International Rivers said in a statement Wednesday after investigating of the dam. The project, as the first dam on the mainstream Lower Mekong, is also the first to undergo a controversial review process through the Mekong River Commission (MRC), a four-nation body that manages development along the river and has not yet given a go-ahead for the project. (27 June 2012)